How we actually test a game before scoring it

People sometimes ask how we can score a game fairly, so here's the process, unglamorous as it is. First, one editor plays it seriously for several hours across a few sessions. No skimming.

Then we check it on a second, cheaper phone. This is where a lot of games fall apart, with frame drops and long loads that never show up on flagship hardware. If a game only runs well on expensive devices, that goes in the review.

We track the annoying stuff on purpose: how often ads interrupt play, how much battery an hour costs, whether the game nags you to rate it. These things affect whether you'll actually keep playing.

Only after all that does a score get assigned, and it's always a discussion, never a formula. Scores are our subjective read, not a measurement. We tell you what we felt and why, and you decide if that lines up with what you want.